The Capitol Hill Community Service Association did a cleanup at the John Taylor Elementary School in August 2017. School business manager Joe Brown, center, is flanked by, from left, Ron Hammond, Imani Augustus, Brad Korten, Kristen Siegele, Alex Erwin and Maureen Acero. (Courtesy CHCSA)

Congressional staffers who may not agree ideologically are finding ways to come together in service. The bipartisan Capitol Hill Community Service Association gives them a chance to volunteer in D.C.

“I was trying to find a way to help bridge the divide. We all know it can be very toxic here sometimes, not to the fault of staffers, obviously. We’re all here because we want to serve and I think community service is one of those places where we can find that common ground,” said the association’s co-leader Brad Korten, a legislative aide to New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman.

Senators confirmed the new head of the Army Corps of Engineers and then headed home. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

The Senate voted 89-1 Thursday to confirm Rickey Dale “R.D.” James to lead the Army Corps of Engineers, which will serve as the chamber’s get-out-of-town vote after a long haul of days that involved the government shutdown over the weekend.

Earlier in the week, the chamber had expected to approve James by voice vote on Wednesday before a roll call vote on the nomination was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Afterward, senators headed for the exits.

Murphy stretches during her morning run, with the Capitol in the background. (Bian Elkhatib/CQ Roll Call)

Rep. Stephanie Murphy typically takes a run down the National Mall as the sun is rising over the Capitol. A few hours later, she is there in high heels walking to votes.

In her first term in Congress, the 39-year-old Florida Democrat calls herself a “mom boss.” The term comes from the 2016 book “Mom Boss: Balancing Entrepreneurship, Kids & Success” by Nicole Feliciano and is something of a movement, with women adding the hashtag #MomBoss to online discussions of how they balance children and work.

Facebook users now have the option to pin “constituent badges” to their profiles, letting friends — and members of Congress — know which district they live in. And users can now search for articles, links, and posts that other residents in their districts engage with most frequently.

“When we think about civic engagement, we think about building communities of people,” said Erin Egan, Facebook’s vice president of U.S. public policy. “And this is about making sure that people engage with government.”

Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves says he will keep working to overhaul the way the country responds to natural disasters like this month's devastating floods in his home state. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Flood waters were rising, so Rep. Garret Graves threw his kayak and paddle board on his truck, just in case.

As floods tore into the Louisiana Republican's Baton Rouge-area district on Aug. 13, he joined what he called the "Cajun Navy," hopping in his kayak to pull people from their homes. Residents in their own boats helped rescue neighbors as their houses flooded. Graves said that without these residents taking the initiative, the death toll would probably have been higher.

Mike Sittig, left, and Nelson Morgan Jr. bring supplies to Morgan's father's home to begin the process of cleaning up after flood waters inundated it on Friday in St Amant, Louisiana. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama makes a highly anticipated visit to flood-ravaged Louisiana on Tuesday with the federal government already busy repairing damage to a large swath of the state and drawing down disaster relief funds.

It appears unlikely that the flood recovery will require additional emergency spending by Congress to address the needs of victims, federal officials said.